Highlights of Cubs 2011 schedule include visit from Yankees and trip to Boston

The home-and-away series against White Sox will be June 20-22 at U.S. Cellular Field and July 1-3 at Wrigley.

September 14, 2010|By Paul Sullivan, Tribune reporter

ST. LOUIS — Joe Girardi will be coming to Wrigley Field next year.

Now it's just a matter of which uniform he'll be wearing — that of the Yankees or the Cubs?

The Cubs will play host to the Yankees on June 17-19, highlighting the 2011 schedule that was released to MLB.com Tuesday. The Yankees manager is rumored to be interested in the Cubs' opening if he doesn't return to the Bronx.

The Cubs will open the season April 1 at Wrigley 1 against Pittsburgh and will travel to Boston to play their first-ever interleague series at Fenway Park on May 20-22. The last time they played at Fenway was during the 1918 World Series, when Babe Ruth and the Red Sox beat them 4 games to 2. Boston and the Cubs have played only one interleague series before, in 2005 at Wrigley.

Other highlights of the 2011 season include the home-and-away series against the White Sox on June 20-22 at U.S. Cellular Field and on July 1-3 at Wrigley. They also will play an interleague series at Kansas City on June 24-26, and will end the season with a six-game trip Sept. 23-28 to St. Louis and San Diego.

Rotation watch: The Cubs have no immediate plans for Carlos Silva, who reported to the team Tuesday after being diagnosed with elbow tendinitis. Silva is expected to receive treatment for the next week, but the Cubs insist that doesn't mean he will be shut down. He said he's been feeling pain for a while, but hopes to pitch again this year. Only 11 games will remain after next week, so starting Silva with a sore elbow seems unlikely.

Tom Gorzelanny, who has been out since being hit in the left hand with a line drive Sept. 1, will throw a simulated game Sunday in Florida. Gorzelanny is available out of the bullpen. Ryan Dempster, Casey Coleman and Jeff Samardzija will face the Marlins this weekend.

Extra innings: Starlin Castro was out of the Tuesday lineup for a second straight night with a sore hip. … The Cubs took down the controversial Noodle advertisement outside of Wrigley Field on Tuesday.